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Because audience measurement depends on numerous other broadcast systems, understanding them and making data flow among them has become a familiar responsibility to us. We can make such diverse systems, and others, play together with or without a connection to audience measurement:
Channel databases, to ensure that each feed has a stable identifier (or to create one if needed), and that the channel is credited for its activation period even if staged on a separate database Schedule databases, to ensure that there are no gaps or overlaps in schedules, and the schedules can be matched to channels CA (conditional-access) systems, their databases and smartcard data, to ensure that only active, sample-qualified cards appear in the sample, and to combat piracy CA authorisation tokens, to produce channel coverage ratings, a popular product for premium channels (ratings limited to households that can receive the channel) Return path callback, which often has bugs and service problems that affect audience measurement, BBVOD, PPV, impulse buys and service upgrades, sometimes severely CRM/subscription databases, to add demographic, psychographic and geographic information directly or via geographic indicators, so as to balance the sample for representativeness and enable demographic and regional ratings Universe data, to extrapolate to accurate household and person counts Traffic systems&emdashan important source of both incoming and outgoing data, including programme and advertising creative identifiers, which also helps enable advertising ratings Advertising booking, monitoring and fulfillment systems, which helps enable advertising ratings
A common connection is between the traffic system/playout automation and the advertising booking/fulfillment system from another manufacturer. We can help ensure their cooperation even when audience measurement is not an objective. We have many years of expertise in migrating data among disparate environments. For situations in which a product or expertise is required that is beyond our own abilities, we work with external providers who supply the missing knowledge. Thanks to more than 30 years in broadcasting, we can even supply the equipment and people to build an entire new broadcast or production plant.
For many pay-TV operators, piracy is also a problem. We can help detect it and control it.
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